There are a lot of reasons to use online trees, especially now that you can sync between FTM 2012 and online, but one I particularly like is that using your tree you can pre-populate your search.

Let’s say you are on a page for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. (I’m not related to this famous Union Soldier, I just use Civil War Generals as an example tree.)

Right underneath his icon, you’ll see the Search Records link:

Click on that link, and we do a search for you with everything you know about Joshua pre-populated in the search.

If you want to change the information, click on the Edit Search button.  And you can apply any of the tips and tricks we have discussed to this type of search.

Next tip: Search Tip #18: Read the Form or review the previous tip: Search Tip #16: Use Facets

Happy Searching!

Ancestry Anne